1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a rerailer for a model railway, and more particularly to a rerailer for a power-driven vehicle such as locomotive, motive power car or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a model railway is used, it sometimes happens that the wheels of a model railway vehicle cannot easily be placed on the rails since the wheels under the vehicle body cannot be seen easily. To prevent this, a rerailer is used as a guide member for guiding a vehicle onto the rails. A conventional rerailer is constructed in the form of an inclined base having a wide wheel guide groove on its inclined surface. The width of the guide groove is narrowed at the lower section of the inclined surface so as to guide the wheels on both sides of the vehicle onto the rails. When the rerailer is placed on the rails and a vehicle is placed on the inclined surface of the rerailer, the vehicle moves on the inclined surface under its own weight and the wheels are guided by the guide groove onto the rails.
The conventional rerailer as described above is useful for guiding carriages, wagons, passenger cars, freight cars, etc., because they can freely move on the inclined surface of the rerailer under their own weight. However, motor or power-driven vehicles such as locomotives and motive power cars cannot move on the inclined surface under their own weight because their motors and speed reducing mechanism serve as brakes. Therefore, the power-driven vehicles must be guided onto the rails by manually moving them.